Who has the best DDT: Raven or Jake Roberts?

[autisticgeordie]

Listen, I love Roberts' DDT (as I love most things about Jake Roberts) and I can totally understand why people view it as The DDT that all other DDT's in wrestling will forever try and be as good as. But, honestly, I think Raven's Evenflow DDT was a far more brutal looking DDT, he would often hit it from out of nowhere and the quick snap of the Evenflow made it look even more devastating than Roberts', who tended to take his time when doing the move.

That said, Roberts' DDT being a bit more methodical and slow was fitting for 'The Snake' considering that his character was very calculating and cold, not that Raven wasn't, but I could buy the kayfabe explanation being that Roberts was such a sick son of a bitch that he wanted to make his opponent know what was about to happen to them before he dropped them with the DDT.

[The Ichi]

Jakes just looked like it hurt more.

[Deleted]

I'm going to say Jake, but context is key here.

If you look back at the early days of the DDT, the way he hit it (or rather, the way it was sold) was different than what it would become. I remember watching Wrestlemania 2 on the network, and it's clearly meant to show that the impact occurs on the crown of the head and the wrestler receiving it just sort of rolls with the momentum. Neat looking, to be sure.

However, as time goes on, the point of impact becomes the face/forehead area, and it was the first finisher that I ever remember seeing in wrestling period where my kid-brain logic went "forget a 3 count, his opponent needs a doctor." The magic of this, of course, is that the bump is super easy to take this way. Even non-wrestlers like Bruce Prichard have stated that the DDT is super safe, and super easy to take. In his words, you "pancake out." That's really what the art of wrestling is all about at the end of the day, isn't it? Making it look like you've committed a felony assault in the ring while really doing almost nothing.

Things do evolve, of course. Mox's Death Rider/Paradigm Shift is probably my favorite spin on the DDT ever, but for the time, nothing looked as scary or terrifying as Jake's DDT imo.

[BorneAgain]

Raven's typically was more consistent (the aforementioned crown landing into a forward roll by Roberts never quite looked as good) but when he hit it just right, Jake's was only rivaled by Arn Anderson's in sheer impact:

[Hit Girl]

Jake

Had a brutal looking snap to it, and guys sold it by just staying down and not bouncing around.

[Deleted]

Damn, do I love a good DDT.

[Viking Hall]

The correct answer is Arn Anderson.

[BrodietheSlayer]

Jan 26, 2020 12:55:47 GMT -5 BorneAgain said:

Raven's typically was more consistent (the aforementioned crown landing into a forward roll by Roberts never quite looked as good) but when he hit it just right, Jake's was only rivaled by Arn Anderson's in sheer impact:

Yeah, that snap motion made it look so much more brutal.

[The Ichi]

I know it wasn't his finisher but Rock had one of the best ones IMO.